"Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can't forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he'd signed his own death warrant.
Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George.
A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day…or start an all-out war?"
"Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.
Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.
Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons."
"Vengeance will be hers.
Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster? With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.
Monster.
Allie
will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the
psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and
long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions -
her creator Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading
straight to the one place they must protect at any cost - the last
vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock
in store for Allie.
In a ruined world where no life is sacred
and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her
darkest days. And if she succeeds, her triumph will be short-lived in
the face of surviving forever alone.
THE FINAL HUNT IS ON."
Blood of Eden. That is the name of the trilogy. Finally. I had no idea what the name is until now. Anyway, let me start on this review of The Forever Song.
A curial character dies unlike The Iron Fey series. Hey! Ash's former love wasn't even that surprising. I mean, seriously? She was dead all along. She died in the first place. Accidentally killed by Puck. And Ash hadn't let her go, but Meggie was taking the place of where she was. Okay, I'll tell you that isn't major spoilers. Anyway, I won't tell you who dies in The Forever Song, but it certainly wasn't Allison. What? She is a vampire for goodness' sakes. And two, she is the main character. Thank goodness, Kagawa didn't pull off an Allegiant. One is already bad in this world.
Now that I got most of my personal feelings out of the way, let me start by discussing (monologuing) about The Forever Song, the third book in The Blood of Eden series.
The Forever Song is a thriller of vampires and blood and humans to the end. There is redemption (for more than one character, by the way), romance, young love, and a lot of humor from the hilarious Jackal (whose real name is even a joke; James). I still can't get over his real name. It is way too funny. So ordinary and different than "Jackal."
The book goes by too quickly. I managed to finish the entire book in one sitting. Or two sittings. It is a bit hard to remember the exact amount of time it took for me to read this. Anyway, The Forever Song consist about 400 pages. A tad less, but it is close to 400. Kagawa paces the long story quite well. Boredom is never in sight.
The conclusion to it all is stunning and sadly also confusing. It took me a bit to understand Kanim's words. That guy always speaks in difficult puzzles, layered with meanings and double meanings. After much consideration, I ultimately think the ending to The Forever Song to be sad yet also hopeful. And still stunning. At least, Jackal, Zeke, and Allie gets a happy ending. Whoops. That was kind of a spoiler, if you are thinking about that miss.
Overall, The Blood of Eden trilogy is very exciting. Kagawa strays far from Twilight's sense of vampires and goes towards the more traditional version of vampires. I enjoy the entire book and series from cover to cover.
Oh. A last word. Don't you think Zeke is wonderful after all this time? And two, don't you hate Kanim because he always seems so deep and wanting more from Allie?
Rating: Four out of Five
"In Allison Sekemoto's world, there is one rule left: Blood calls to blood
She
has done the unthinkable: died so that she might continue to live. Cast
out of Eden and separated from the boy she dared to love, Allie will
follow the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin, from the psychotic
vampire Sarren. But when the trail leads to Allie's birthplace in New
Covington, what Allie finds there will change the world forever—and
possibly end human and vampire existence.
There's a new plague
on the rise, a strain of the Red Lung virus that wiped out most of
humanity generations ago—and this strain is deadly to humans and
vampires alike. The only hope for a cure lies in the secrets Kanin
carries, if Allie can get to him in time.
Allison thought that
immortality was forever. But now, with eternity itself hanging in the
balance, the lines between human and monster will blur even further, and
Allie must face another choice she could never have imagined having to
make."
The Eternity Cure is the second book of its series which I can't name still. I'll find the name. Soon. Sooner or later. I hope.
Kanim is tortured under a lunatic's watch. The psychic backlash goes against Allison and Jackal (real name: James), because they are his children. That means there is sadly no chance for Allison to get involve with Kanim though there were some strange moments of doubt.
Anyway, The Eternity Cure is as good as The Immortal Rules. Both sequel and first installment does an excellent job of keeping readers on toes. It has the perfect among of action, intrigue, mystery, and la la la. It is the best I'd read in a long time.
Allison's limit to torture and her loyalty to her "family" is tested. Oh, I should had mentioned vampire family, not just "family." My mistake. But some of her old family does come out of the dead closet. Again. After shew as kicked out of Eden (because she is a vampire and Eden is full of humans), Allison leaves Zeke and his religious group to find her creator, Kanim. Along the way, she finds her sociopath brother, Jackal (James). Think of James like Puck (Robin Goodfellow). He brings in the laughs. For a vampire, he is very funny.
I believe the book is as long as The Immortal Rules. 400+ pages. And every bit is a treat. Honestly, I wish that Kagawa wrote 400+ pages for each book of The Iron Fey. No one (except for Puck fans and Sing Meggie fans) can't get enough of good old Ash, the Winter Prince. Swoon!
The ending leaves pretty much everyone angry. Including me. And plus, I totally don't believe that guy's death because he, like Allie (Allison's nickname) is a toughie. He can't die now! No, kill off... I don't know who else. I don't want Kanim or Jackal to die. It is like killing off Ash or Puck. Imagine that. Death makes everything nasty.
Overall, I totally agree with my original conclusion. The Eternity Cure is just as delicious as The Immortal Rules. Kagawa does a wonderful job again!
Oh, last installment. The finale. Here I come. I will eat it up and chomp it as loudly as I can. I think it will be as good as Kagawa's previous books. Kagawa has an excellent reputation at delivering.
Rating: Five out of Five
"To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…
Allison
Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in
city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of
them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.
Forced
to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group
of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the
disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the
bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon
Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for… again.
Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins."
Well, I'll tell you that it is nothing like The Iron King of Juliet Kagawa's The Iron Fey series. Because I enjoy this first book of her new series, I'm trying to decide which is my favorite one out of the two. Hmm... Let's see. The Immortal Rules is about vampire while The Iron King is about faeries. The Immortal Rules has Zeke and Kanim (though he doesn't really count). The Iron King has Puck and best of all, Ash. Really, no one can beat Ash. That is why The Iron Fey wins. Go Ash! (I don't really care about the spinoff series about Ethan other than the fact Ash is there).
Yeah. The Iron Fey is more awesome than this series. What is the name of this series? Damn. I'll find it. Sooner or later.
Allison is definitely Asian.You can tell by her last name. It is just irony that she chooses to wield a Kantana. Totally agree with Kanim, by the way. Anyway, she is definitely a toughie. She isn't afraid of breaking noses to protect herself and the things she has. She loves her friends to the point that they are her weaknesses (like Percy Jackson). She is wild as a vampire, but she also posses a very strong will to not drink human blood as a vampire. Oh, animal blood doesn't work. And she was surrounded by tons of humans. Humans that are very religious. But that doesn't matter. Actually, it does. Zeke is one of those religious nuts. Still, he is adorable, which makes up for nearly everything.
Zeke, Allison's love interest, is a religious nut. Not as much as a nut like his foster father and not as nutty as Dorothy (long story) or Sarren (another long story) or Jackal (another long story). At least, this is one guy who is cute. And Allison's love interest.
And Kanim doesn't count as a love interest. I wish that too, but no. Then again, if he was, he would be Edward Cullen-ish. He is at least 100+ years older than Allison. And we don't even know his true age. But that doesn't matter. The guy is so full of sadness that I' surprised he didn't off himself by the end of this book. But he is crucial to the vampire species arc.
The Immortal Rules is a 400+ pages book. I really enjoyed it even though it was so long. Kagawa uses her story-weaving skills so well that I had to finish it off in one sitting. It is a great story of action and the vampire-ish future. It is as good as The Iron King but with less romantic heat and more exposition. Kagawa does a lot of world building. It isn't as terrible as it sounds, guys. She makes it fun. Like The Iron Fey series fun. Though there is no Puck here. Or Ash. Or Grim the cat. ("I'm a cat.") Gosh, I can't believe I miss them so much.
Rating: Five out of Five
"In the real world, when you vanish into thin air for a week, people tend to notice.
After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as "normal" as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try for-his girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that he's forbidden to see her again.
But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, "normal" simply isn't to be. For Ethan's nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethan's and Keirran's fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethan's next choice may decide the fate of them all."
Can I kill Keirran yet? I mean, seriously, this guy is the worst character ever. He's an insult to Meghan and Ash. Heck, he's a crapload of crap to the entire Iron Kingdom. All he cares about is his love of his life. He's undenyablely selfish and can learn a lot from Ethan. Seriously, one day I will go into Nevernever and kill that guy. I really want to strangle him. He's terrible. Terrible, terrible, terrible. Someone tell me why he's still alive.
Let's move on. I don't want to talk about this loser. Let's talk about the winners. Ash and Puck are together in a scene, but not for long. It doesn't matter. It's an endearing event most readers are looking for. All we need is Meghan, Puck, and Ash in one scene, one place. It will be perfect. I wouldn't care if Ethan dies. Or even if Kenzie dies. Doesn't matter. Ash, Puck, and Meghan are gold! I miss the old books.
On the plus side, we have Puck and the cat together with the four (Ethan, Kenzie, Keirran, and that other girl). Well, Keirran's love is only with them for a short time. But the small insights in their relationship is adorable. The first time they met was a total LOL worthy moment. Along with all the Puck moments. Alone, he is gold, too. (Sorry, Puck. Forgot to talk about how awesome you are). Ash sometimes appears, but is only hounding them like the Big Bad Wolf. Anyway, any small mentions of him is great.
The storyline of The Iron Traitor isn't as good as before. I am referring to the previous problems like the Iron King, Ash's kryptonite, and the future of Meghan and Ash's child. Then there's the wonderful situation about the rising of the Forgotten. All of the sudden, there's a sick girl dying and the Iron Prince trying to save her. BOOO! Horrible storyline, compared to the other books. Ethan accepted the truth that Kenzie will eventually die. Kerrian hasn't accepted that yet. He still wants to save her. If all the signs are corrected, then Kenzie and Kerrian's girl (name is ridiculous to spell and type) will eventually die.
There's a parallel line between Ethan and Kerrian's relationship with their girlfriends. Both of their girlfriends are going to die (or at least most likely). Both of the boys don't want them to die. Both of the boys believe in different things. But at least, believe in something.
Ethan is different. He's more accepting. He's the mature one of most of the characters. Ash, I would say is perhaps the most maturing of all, doesn't appear much in the book, so he doesn't really count, but you can count him if you like. Puck is the least mature of all characters, as usual. (Don't ever change, Puck!) What I hate about Ethan is that he lets other people's decisions affect his. Sometimes, he needs to man up and do things himself. That's what he fails to do. That's what Ash does. (Yep, I'm comparing Ethan, Puck, and Ash. Ash is unbeatable, so I shouldn't even talk about him. 'Nuff said).
Rating: Three out of Five (rating saved by Puck and Ash)
"Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.
That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’d dare to fall for.
Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten."
Yay! It's The Lost Prince. Remember The Iron Knight? (If you haven't heard of it, read the first book, The Iron King.) Thought that is the last book? Yeah, it isn't, but thank the skies that it isn't. With a new series, the Iron Fey is back ready to kick butts. I never realize how much I missed the Iron Fey until I spied this book in the Richmond Library in Canada. (Yeah, this is another book from my short summer vacation.) Okay! Somewhat give me a fan, I need one! This is hot, hot, hot! I love the Iron Fey and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this! This above every book in the library. Seriously, it was like as if there was a halo around the cover.
I love the plot! In the beginning, Ethan Chase is pretending to be someone he is not. He wants to be normal, be a regular human begin. He resents the Faery world and hated our beloved prince, Ash of Unseelie Court. Well, now of the Iron Realm. I always like Julie Kagawa's writing. She makes everything, every emotion, every word, every moment, every cat real and beautiful. Kagawa is skilled in switching between POVs, from Meghan's wondrous view of the Fey to Puck's mischievous and humorous look of the world to Ash's mysterious, cold, and serious mind to Ethan's deep hatred and loathing to the Fey.
I never realize how much I love Grimalkin until he utter "Your family does have a knack for getting into trouble." It is such a shame that Ash, Puck, and Meghan never appeared together in The Lost Prince. Puck is there, but never with the rest of the gang. Meghan and Ash (Meghan is the one who is mostly speaking among those lovebirds) appear only in the throne room. Glitch and some rats decides to show his face. And finally, the anticipated child of Ash and Meghan makes his debut.
The ending is leaving me in a disoriented state. All these flutter questions are flying in and out of my vision. What happen to Ethan? What will happen to the fey? What's up with the Forgotten Queen? Why is Ethan called The Lost Prince? Oh wait, this is a cliffhanger. Damn it!
(Well, I can't wait for The Iron Traitor. It's the second book.)
Characters:
Ethan is awesome. He is certainly not Meghan's innocent, little, baby brother anymore. Bah! This kid, or man, kicks butts. Ethan, like what I said before, hates the land of the Fey. He doesn't like them, he doesn't like the cats, and he doesn't like suspicious deals. It's funny how everything changed because of a girl. A normal girl who is a simple reporter and photographer from the newspaper.
Keirran is the nephew of Ethan. Wow, did I just say that? Ethan is the uncle despite the fact that Ethan and Keirran are about the same age. Keirran is naive and young, due to the fact that his parents overly protects him. I hate how stupid and reckless he sometimes get. (On second thought, he's always like that.) I have this weak mental power to whack fictional characters in the head. I try and try, but I don't think it's working because Keirran is not learning from my whackings.
Rating: Five out of Five
